Big Dots Revised

 
Around 12 months ago, I started a little TeacherspayTeachers store to house my growing collection of clipart and graphics. Those that have known me that long, can appreciate how far I have come.

I never had a clear picture of where I wanted to go with it, I only knew one thing. I loved creating digital images, loved learning how to get better every day, and LOVED sharing with other teachers. I have quite a long and challenging little relationship with clipart for digital teaching resources, and every time I banged my head against a brick wall, or faced a big expense trying to find them for myself, little did I know I was one step closer to biting the bullet, and making them myself. For someone that was only used to drawing and painting with paper, canvas, pencils and pastels, it has been a HUGE and challenging journey. One that is quite emotional for me, and one that has been intensely personal for many reasons.

So here I am one year later, feeling like it has been ten years. A little tired, but reflecting on how much I have learnt and feeling quite proud (can I say that?!)

I started out wanting nothing more than to ease the struggle (that I had faced) for other teachers and self-publishers. To give others some creative freedom to make resources and teaching aids to further share once more with even more teachers. There is no feeling like starting a project, inserting some images and knowing full well, that you wont be faced with a copyright and limited usage issues years down the track. I wanted to give other people the freedom that I had found myself.

Thank you to all the wonderful people that have supported Graphics From the Pond this past year. You and your wonderful comments and emails of support have kept me going.

I received a very important email last week, with a show of support that I never saw coming, and it reaffirmed that I have been on the right track. It can be a lonely and confusing existence at times, I am sure others in this arena will know what I mean. I am grateful for this recent support, as it has spurred me to give even more for our second year of graphics! And my special people - you know who you are - I won't forget your kindness, respect and support. And you will be repaid one day, cause that is how the world works you know!

Those of you in this arena, will understand how brave you have to be, to 'put your stuff out there', amongst some of the most talented and respected teachers around the world. I love you even more that you sent me messages telling me my first attempts were grand, even though some of them were far from. Thank you. I mean it! I was shocked at the time, and continue to be. Teachers rock!

To celebrate, I have revised a FREE set that is long overdue! Our 'Big Dots' have been given a freshen up.

This was the first set of borders I ever created. I know each of those dots like the back of my hand, because, not knowing any better, I drew each individual one to make the pattern. My word! See how the dots are not even and perfect circles - that's cause I didn't know how to do it! How things have changed.... he he! I really am self taught you see! The first collection took me a few days to get finished, now I am far better skilled, I was able to revise them in far less time - and add MORE!

The set now included digital papers, unfilled borders and filled borders.
And the whole spanking lot is now also included in A4 size for my growing troop of fellow Aussie resource-makers!

So if you love the Big Dots as much as I do, you may want to head over to TpT and get yourself a brand new set!

Every time I see them, I get a bit choked up, thinking about my journey, and the days I sat down (a little scared but excited) to attempt a pattern with those dots
and for you .... I hope you see bright fun and happiness.

Santa Puppet and 'How to' Writing


We made this simple and very cute Santa puppet yesterday. We used a brown paper bag, our favourite markers (they are HUGE and cover a large space in a teeny tiny time frame), cotton wool balls and glue.

We folded the two top corners around to the back and secured them with tape


We drew all of the features, then stuck some cotton wool on to make the beard and moustache.

This photo shows the back. Too easy, and too cute!


I would do this simple activity, and other like it in the classroom, as I love craft activities that children can complete entirely on their own. I also love simple fast ones that look effective on display and also leave enough time to complete a little writing activity with them.

We teach 'Procedures' in my state of Australia, as part of our work on 'Text Types'. Our English curriculum is structured around various text types and the students learn to read, write and talk/listen in the various text types. We do a lot of learning on the organisational features and grammatical structures within the various texts. And, we start in Kinder! Many of our kindergarten activities utilise 'proformas' - or worksheets that provide a structure for the students. Of course, we work up towards independent writing, but a proforma is usually how we begin.

Shown below,  is the 'procedure' that my daughter and I collaboratively wrote after our craft activity. As I would do within a classroom setting, I preceded this writing activity with a LOT of talk! By talking students through a text type, you are able to explore the features with a speed and ease that would be impossible in the written form. It really is like a first draft. Lots of ideas, hesitations, queries and random offerings! We organise and consolidate our thinking, reflect on our understanding and make new connections.

I asked my daughter lots of questions, and framed the discussion to get her to express precisely the steps and logical sequence of the activity.

We organise our 'procedures' to include a
Goal (usually the heading How to.....)
Materials (usually a list of equipment in the order of use)
Method (ordered steps taken to achieve the task)

In kindergarten, when forst learning procedures, sometimes we leave out the materials, and just structure the text with a goal and method. we also start out by just drawing pictures for each step.




This 'proforma' can be found in my Basic Kindergarten Writing Worksheets resources, along with many others. I am also currently preparing more worksheets to update this useful resource and make it even better value. Many of the proformas are very generic so they can be utilised in a range of learning experiences! Click on the image below if you would like to take a look at TpT.




Christmas Card Templates

Have your children make a Christmas card for someone they care about. With this template they can color, cut, fold and write from one piece of card or paper. 

Christmas Card to Make At School

Christmas Card to Make At School

Christmas Card to Make At School


More Christmas Card Ideas
Here on the blog I have some free cards to share with you too! 

5 Fab Freebies for Frogs

5 fab friday freebies from the pond

1. Funny Frogs Coloring Page

Find this fun coloring page featuring 3 cute long leg frogs, over in our Coloring Club
3 frog coloring page

2. Frog Screen Wallpaper

Add a bright happy frog screen wallpaper to your screens. It's FREE!
Frog Wallpaper

3. 5 Frogs on a Log Coloring Page

Learn counting to 5 and numeral formation with our 5 Frogs on a log coloring page. It's free in the Coloring Club!
5 frogs coloring page

4. Frog Drawing 

Find this project over on Art for the Class!

5. Paper Craft Frog

Freehand make a paper frog like my daughter, using green paper rolled into a cylinder. Cut paper scraps for details and glue to secure!

We love making printable teaching resources! We hope you love them at that your students are excited to learn with them. Follow us on TPT so you never miss a new freebie!

Bunny Counts by Twos


Yes, there is a very cute freebie coming your way, but first, let me explain how we got there....


It all started with some cups.


Very cute paper cups that just had to be mine (and my daughters)... who am I kidding - I was in love with them!

What was I to do with them? Have a quick game of 'Cups' (any other tragic Friends fans out there?!)

Nah.... let's face it, they were always destined for a teaching or learning or crafty experience...

First, we whipped up some numbered jumbo popsticks


And gave each cute bunny cup, two ears



to help learn to count by 2s to ten.....


We talked about how you can skip every second number when counting, to get to ten faster!
We read this cute book about number 2 from the Scholastic Number Tales series.


Later after my little ones were tucked into bed, I got thinking about counting by 2s and how I have always wanted a poster number line that gives a visual reminder to skip every 2nd number. I thought about doing a picture of a bunny jumping over every second number, but settled on this one...showing how to count the number of ears on the bunny line up, but with one number made to stand out - helping our little ones to remember that the number is still there, we just don't say it!


In the classroom, I would introduce the idea of counting by 2s and then practise with this number line, pointing to the numbers and having the students whisper the lightly displayed numerals.


And you can use these posters for FREE - in your classroom or at home.Please do not re-distribute this file, if you would like to share it -send your friends over to my blog to find it!

Just click HERE To download it from google docs.


For more creative ways to teach skip counting - head over to our special page!

Sight Words

Sight Words are one of my favorite things to teach. 
Sight Words

Too often, the words are not actually being taught all that well in class, and left for parents to cope with at home. I encourage homework review, but I also try to dedicate at least a mini-lesson or literacy center/group to sight words each and every day. 

I recommend this rough outline for a kindergarten class:

Monday Sight Words 

Introduce 6 new words + read them in context (modelled + independent read)

Tuesday Sight Words

Class Game + Literacy Group/Centre Game

Wednesday Sight Words 

Literacy Group Game

Thursday Sight Words  

Class Game + Literacy Group Game

Friday Sight Words  

Final review of words + Possible assessment of last week's words 

Change and adapt to reflect your students' needs and any set programs running in school. 

Tips for teaching sight words in the classroom

  • have focus sight words on display at all times (use the flashacards in our program)
  • have a weekly 'focus word' section on the front teaching area 
  • have the words you have covered through the year to date on a 'word wall'
  • pull out the 6 focus words flashcards from a collection you keep for the year
  • do quick drills through the day of the focus words 
  • remind them to attend to the card you are holding visually - encourage students to look at it while saying the word aloud
  • make these explicit teaching mini lessons short, simple and focused
 
We started a 100 Sight Words series that started with the flashcards and now includes games, activities, worksheets and centers.

Teaching Sight Words

Our 100 Sight Words Program

  • the words in our program can be color coded
  • students can work through the colors/levels 
  • 20 words in each of the 5 levels

Here is a game you can play to revise the 100 words in our program, or you can use the idea to play with any set of words. Just choose 5 different colours to write your words on.

Here we used cards from our Flashcards Mega Pack 

For teaching children to read sight words, we use a font that is perfect for reading - a font that would appear in the little books they learn to read with. 
 
Sight Word Games

Insert corresponding coloured pieces into a clear pocket dice. Students roll the die, and pick up a word of matching colour. If they can read the word, they keep the card until the end of play. Keep rolling and reading until all the cards have been allocated.

When students are playing games like this, I like to 'tell' the word if a students cannot read it. They repeat the word back to me, while looking at its spelling. This helps visual memory - what we are aiming for. 

Sight Word Roll

You can download a template of the pieces I uses for my dice, by clicking on the image below.

Sight Word Dice Game

Please hop over to our website for more information on our Sight Word Program!

Piggy In the Middle!

I made these new number games for numeral identification to 20. My daughter has made so much progress, but I think I would like to see her identifying 12, 13 and 15 more readily. Do you find these numbers always trick your kinders too? Why can't we have a two-teen!?

Shoe Match
Have your students play Shoe Match to practice subitizing 1-9 and addition 10-20. They will add two dot pattern arrangements and match it to a numeral card to show the pair of shoes that match!

Students will get practice in matching numerals to dot pattern arrangements of numbers in the range 1-20

This file includes 40 game cards, recording worksheet, cover page and detailed game instructions


Find it HERE


Teen Bingo
Have you got students working on numeral identification for teen numbers 11-20. They can be tricky to learn and students need lots of exposure and practise recognizing these numerals.

Play a game of bingo to make this repetitive learning fun!

The printable file includes 6 game boards, a set of caller cards and a detailed game instruction sheet


Find it HERE



Piggy in the Middle is a fun and engaging math center for learning about numbers before and after.

It will be great for your students that are learning to recognize and order numerals 10-50. 

Students will take a card and identify the number that is missing from the 'middle'. This will help your students think about forward and backward number sequence (before/after numbers). 


Find it HERE 

Thanks so much for stopping by the blog to learn more about our printables. Have a lovely day!


5 Friday Freebies for Autumn

5 fab friday freebies from the pond

1. Fall Match - A Free Printable Alphabet Game

This fun Alphabet Match Up Game is easy-prep alphabet game and perfect for fall. It will help your little ones with visual discrimination as well as letter identification. Great for Kindergarten!

2. Free Apple Writing Paper

Create fun writing projects for the students in your classroom with these fun lined apple writing papers!

Apple Writing Paper

3. Free Apple Classroom Pennant Banner

The printable pages of this packet will help you make a super cute apple themed classroom banner! Arrange the 3 colors in a repeating pattern to incorporate a math activity too!

Apple Pennant Banner

4. Free Apple Play Dough Mats

Use these fun apple activity mats for counting and math activities - use them with play dough, dry erase markers or math equipment.

5. Free Apple Directed Drawing

Guide your students through a super fun Apple Friend art project! This pack includes directions for one apple directed drawing and includes 4 presentation options.

We love making printable teaching resources! We hope you love them at that your students are excited to learn with them. Follow us on TPT so you never miss a new freebie! 

The Race That Stops A Nation

Are you wondering how you can possibly incorporate a little 'Melbourne Cup' into your learning tomorrow?
 
For my blog friends out of Australia, we have a little horse race on tomorrow, here in a small town called Melbourne. Just kidding, its a HUGE race, in a big beautiful city! It literally stops the nation. At around 3pm. EVERYONE (just about), will be watching the race, and probably involved in some sort of workplace sweep.
Depending on your school policy, you may be talking to your students about the race. I have been very fortunate the last few years to work with some great people and we are not discouraged from discussing it with the children. I like  to talk about it within the framework of our work on 'celebrations'. We talk about the horse race itself, the 'carnival' atmosphere and also tie in some work on ordinal numbers. One year we had the children wear their best Melbourne Cup hat and also did 'horse' races in the playground. Although not technically in the syllabus, I think acknowledging events and celebrations with our students at school is SO important. It helps little children engage with the world around them and start to build a framework to understand the world. I think it also provides them with some key ways to make connections with people, both at school, and at home. It encourages conversation and language at home. In other words, it's real. And kids like to talk 'real' at home. Some of our students need all the help we can give them with language and communication.
 
 
I have made these horse race themed 'puzzle pastes' that you may like to do with your class tomorrow. I know its late and I should have made you these last week.. but you know how it gets!
I have made one for addition to ten, and another to review number concepts to ten.
Download them HERE
Puzzle Pastes are our cut-and-paste puzzle worksheets. Students have to cut the pieces and match the them to the answer page provided. When they are all pasted into position, the students will see the horse picture they have created!

The worksheets have been created in black and white so that they can be easily photocopied for your class.

 We used clear, crisp, cute graphics from Scrappindoodle.coms

This file is for your personal and classroom use only. You are not permitted to share or redistribute this file at any time.
Good luck in your sweeps! I always like #8, but I can't get #11 out of my head for some reason!


UPDATE: I just found another really great freebie for Melbourne Cup over at Stef's blog - find it HERE